


Jumping in Piles of Leaves

by MadJJ



Series: Starkinelli Shorts [7]
Category: Agent Carter (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: A warm mug of chocolate, Autumn, F/M, Fluff, Howard making up for being an unintentional douchebag to Angie, Hurt/Comfort-ish, Seasonal activities, That dry cold before it starts raining, fall - Freeform, moodboard, piles of leaves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 17:47:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21275210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadJJ/pseuds/MadJJ
Summary: "Raking all your leaves up in a pile like that was just begging for someone to jump into it!"





	Jumping in Piles of Leaves

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this prompts: “Oh come on, you totally raked all your leaves up in a pile just asking for someone to jump in it”  
(https://dailyau.tumblr.com/post/188723780857/oh-come-on-you-totally-raked-all-your-leaves-up)
> 
> Disclaimer : I have never used a rake to create a giant pile of leaves – I don’t know how much time it would realistically take.

Angie looked at her hard work with a satisfied smile. It had taken her about half an hour gathering all the leaves in the backyard (it was a very large backyard), but she had done it! All right, maybe she could have saved fifteen minutes by ignoring the leaves that sat alone here and there, or the ones that had fallen in harder places to reach, like behind the bushed lining the walls of the house, but where was the satisfaction in that?

Now, for the reward -

Angie was about to put against the wall the rake still in her hands, when someone rushed in front of her, jumped, and landed in her pile of leaves with a joyful:

“Yahoo!”

The rake fell off her hands, her fingers numbed by her astonishment.

The pile had exploded on impact, losing its height and its fluffiness. A dark-haired head emerged from what was left of the pile, leaves clinging to it.

“Howard?” Angie exclaimed, angry.

“What? Raking all your leaves up in a pile like that was just begging for someone to jump into it!”

He picked the leaf that was stuck in his hair and twirled it in a flirtatious manner.

“Wanna fool around in the leaves?” he asked, raising a suggestive eyebrow.

The offer flew right over Angie’s head. She had stopped paying attention to his flirts a while ago; he did that like he breathed.

Angie felt like stomping and shaking her fists.

“_I_ was the one supposed to jump in the pile! That was the whole point of this!”

That was the reward! She used to clean the leaves with her brother behind their place so their mother would be happy with the ‘clean neighborhood’, and then, once _every single one_ of the straying leaves had been added to the pile, they would jump into it. They would laugh and lay there for a couple of minutes, staring up at the sky.

A few leaves always scattered, but not that much; they were still small children. It merely took a couple more minutes to put them back in the pile.

Angie’s brother couldn’t bother with that kind of silliness now, he was too busy with a baby on the way and this whole ‘being mature’ thing. Even asking to do it with Peggy had seemed silly; she was too distinguished of a lady.

But Angie wanted to enjoy her seasonal pleasures even if it was by herself. Get a small taste of her childhood again.

“Oh – well, nothing stops you from...”

He seemed to gesture for her to do the same as him, half showing the pile, half getting out of it. Whatever was left of the pile reduced even more as he shuffled to get out of it though. A grown man did a bit more damage than a couple of small children.

As if to underline how unrealistic it was for Angie to jump in right after him, wind blew through the courtyard, spreading the leaves further.

Seeing the scattered dead leaves, Angie didn’t even feel like trying to put the pile back together. The moment had been ruined. She sighed, shoved her hands in her coat’s pockets and announced with a disappointed voice:

“I’ll just go back inside.”

She didn’t know Howard all that well, but now she understood why Peggy always talked about him with a mixture of fondness and annoyance, like he was a turbulent child instead of a grown man.

“Wait, Angel -!” he tried to call her back, but she was already closing the door leading to the kitchen behind her.

The mug of hot chocolate felt warm in her hands. Angie smiled and took a careful sip. Perfect temperature. Too bad she was almost done with her cup.

Soon, the oranges and browns of Autumn would fade to let the whites and green and red of winter, with Christmas and New Year’s Eve right around the corner. Well, maybe not yet, but Angie couldn’t wait to see her family again.

She felt blue thinking about it though. As much as she loved him, her brother would probably want to talk about serious things, like her career and lack of financial stability. At least he didn’t seem to be in a hurry to see her married, unlike her father and her mother.

Why had she been the only one to keep her childhood spirit? Despite the hard times her family had had to go through, she still cherished memories from that time;when she could make her mother smile with a simple act put together in under ten minutes and when her brother joined in all her silly games.

She downed the rest of her chocolate and regretted there wasn’t something stronger than cocoa in her mug.

The door leading from the kitchen to the backyard cracked open. Howard’s head peaked in.

“Hey, Angel,” Howard called gently.

“Hey, you,” she replied without much conviction.

“Can you come outside please?”

She was surprised by his request, but this was one of her day off, so she could afford to give him some of her time. Even if she was still a bit miffed about him ruining her pile of leaves.

She nodded and grabbed her jacket. The wind was starting to bite at this time of the year.

She stepped outside, her shoes digging in the dirt loosened by the humidity in the air. It would rain soon, she thought.

“What did you want to see me fo-”

Angie stopped and stared wordlessly at the reconstituted pile of leaves. Her eyes traveled to Howard, who had an apologetic smile.

“I’m sorry for ruining your fun. Wanna give it another try?”

She had left the backyard long enough to clear out the trash in the kitchen and prepare herself a good cup of chocolate she had lingered with for quite a while. Had he been back here gathering leaves all this time?

“I – Really?”

“Sure, but if you should go _now_, the pile keeps being dispersed by the wind,” he threw an anxious glance behind his shoulder.

He looked as if he expected some curious manifestation of the forces of nature to appear out of nowhere and mess with the pile he had made.

Angie laughed, then ran to jump in the pile with a giggle.

Her back landed on the pile and sunk in a bit, and the dry leaves made a satisfying crunching noise under her weight. Individual leaves were sent flying through the air. They twirled down gently around her as she looked up to the sky. Light gray stretched on the pale blue, sliding through the sky at a slow pace. Angie breathed in deeply. Her lungs filled with an earthly scent.

She laid there for a few seconds, content.

“You don’t think I’m silly for spending that much time on piles of leaves just to jump once in them?” she asked, her voice muffled because of her laying down.

Howard had circled around the pile and stood behind her, leaning so his head hovered a dozen inches above hers.

“Look who you’re asking. I jumped first!”

Angie smiled broadly.

“Say, when it starts snowing, will you have snowball fights with me?”

Howard’s eyes glinted with glee.

**Author's Note:**

> Psst, I have a tumblr: https://mad-j-j.tumblr.com/  
Also, I love comments ;)


End file.
